Report: Joseph Young may have declined workouts due to 1st-round promise

The only thing that could stop Joseph Young's momentum at the end of the season was Joseph Young.

At least, it seems that way with Oregon's breakout star essentially ending his pre-draft process after the NBA Draft Combine in May. Young, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, was one of the most impressive players in the early stages of the NCAA tournament, but opted to let his stock simmer, rather than use individual workouts to vault even higher.

Young hasn't worked out for any teams since the combine, and ESPN's Chad Ford has suggested that Young may have gotten a first-round promise:

And the fact that he hasn't worked out since the combine is suspicious. Multiple sources believe that a team in the late first round made him a promise in exchange for not working out for other teams. While I have no idea if that's L.A., he is a good get at No. 27.

The general idea here is somewhat common - it's believed the Houston Rockets may have done something similar with Tyus Jones - but it's more interesting in Young's case. He entered the NCAA tournament as a draft afterthought and worked himself firmly into the second round, and Young appears to have decided he couldn't play himself any higher up draft boards.

A first-round promise would represent a boon for Young, who's ranked as the No. 33 prospect by ESPN and No. 53 by DraftExpress. As a senior who can really score and hit consistently from outside, it's possible a team with a late-20s pick sees him as a sure bet to play the microwave-man role off the bench from the hop.